All Roads
by Wulfe T Zeitler
Summary: Sonic's seemingly normal day takes an awkward turn and starts his next big adventure where, even he will learn more about himself then he ever could have thought possible. First Fanfic, Please read and review! Honesty appreciated, harsh or otherwise, just be constructive! Story based in all normal universes, including the Archie Comics, Video Games, and some personal touches.
1. One Small Step

A/N: Hello everyone! This is my first Fanfiction, as I am taking the first steps to becoming a better writer, which is something I want to do for the rest of my life. I love Sonic The Hedgehog in all forms, and so this seemed to be a great chance to let my creative nature flourish with the help of a childhood hero. I ask you ALL to read and review with your absolute and completely honest opinions on my work. I will not ask you to be nice, but I will ask that you make an honest effort to help me improve, as well as be respectful of me as a person, as we are all people over the screen. I hope to give you all an interesting and enjoyable read!

Without anything else to say, let's get it started!

Chapter One: One small step...

The wind is right, the sun is shining and for once, there was not a care in the world for this blue hedgehog. Time to enjoy this day. A mad dash through the canyon, the forest and then over the mountain. A day off only comes but once a blue moon. "Oh man! I wish things were this easy all the time!" Quickly thinking that over, "Nah... I have too much fun stomping Eggman to give it up!" Taking all things into consideration, he loved being a hero, never letting the fame from it all go to his head. Sure, he boasted and had a cocky attitude, but no one question his devotion to this people he cared about. This was the one thing he always loved, freedom and preserving it, for all others. His life was an interesting one, always moving where the winds take him and not giving a single glance back. Always forward. Sonic had a knack for making friends with his attitude, even in the oddest of ways. But Knothole was not without it's dangers, which is where Sonic came in. During his time with the Freedom Fighters, he championed the Kingdom and helped keep the peace however he could. He then moved on to help the humans and their struggle with the mad scientist, Station Square being the most frequent target of the attacks. He spent more time in that city then he could remember, even saving the entire planet from certain destruction during his time at the ARK. It was a big world and this is only the beginning in his eyes, ready to hop, skip, jump, and of course, run, right on through to the next big adventure!

What this hero did not know was there was his big trip right in front of him, quite literally.

"Whoa!... OUCH!" Sonic yelped. He suddenly was sent flying to the grassy field below him. He had tripped, but over what? He was sure there was nothing there. Then he stood back up, rubbing his head and blinking. "What in the wor-." Everything became very clear. "A chaos emerald! Oh man, what are the odds?" The brilliant red emerald shined in the sun with a radiance that few could describe. He picked it up and closely examined it. "Never thought I would be happy to kiss the ground but, in this case I will make an exception." As he put the emerald away, he looked into the sky. Something was suddenly not right. The winds suddenly picked up as if just like that, it was about to rain. "Aww man, what happened to the sun? I was just starting to have fun!" Normally a little rain would not bother him but, it was so sudden, something was up. "Guess I better go see Tails, give him this emerald and maybe figure out what is up with this nutty weather change." Assuming it had to do with his old pain-in-the-neck nemesis Robotnik, or Eggman as he was affectionately referred to by the Blue Blur, he sped off to the Mystic Ruins, the rain picking up intensity with every second.

Not to far over the horizon he could see his best friend's work shop standing firm in the storm. "Hey Tails! Open the hanger doors!" Sonic shouted in the distance. "What am I thinking? It's a hurricane out here! There is no way he can hear me." Fast approaching his destination, he needed to make a quick decision. He instinctively rushed up to the front yard and leaped into the air, landing on the roof with ease. Sonic knew that Tails always left his hatch to the top of the hanger unlocked. "Glad he always forgets to do this." Sonic lifted up the door and creeped inside, making sure not to cause any noise in-case Tails, who frequently needed a quiet environment to work in, was working, less he blow the entire place to rubble. "Tails, you here?" Sonic said, trying to be careful not to shout. The entire house was dark. "Looks like he isn't here. Odd, he never leaves without taking at least his communicator with him." Sonic said as he saw the small box laying on the end table. He leaned over and picked up the device, Tails made these a long time ago to keep in touch with his friends, especially Sonic. "It's a shame I never use this thing." Sonic said, as he set the small talkie down and sat in the big velvet armchair next to him. "Well I may as well wait out the storm, maybe he has some fo-." The sound of dishes crashing and smashing in the kitchen caught his attention. "What was that?!" He turned the corner to the room and peaked in, totally unprepared for what was about to happen next.

He slipped.

"OUCH!" He rubbed his bottom side and got up. "Man, I am not having my finest hour right now." He slowly turned and looked down to see what he slipped in, which was chili. "What at waste!" Looking back to the table, there were stacks and stacks of dishes piled up. Sonic knew Tails was one to constantly keep himself busy with his work, these dishes being the poor victims of that. "Tails should really keep this place tidy, I could have gotten hurt!" Sonic said, chuckling to himself. He started cleaning up the mess, no easy task, even with sonic speed. As he was finishing up, something caught his eye. "A note?" He picked it up and read it out loud. "Sunday, Tornado V3 test flight." Sonic sighed "In this weather, Tails could get himself in trouble! I have to go find him!" Sonic looked down at the unfinished floor. "But first, I better clean this." Not a moment later, he was out the door. Sonic ran off in the direction that he knew Tails loved to fly in. It was times like these Sonic liked to think about his friends in the village, and how they always told him that he was too reckless. He never objected. "Once I find Tails, I should talk to him about going home for a while, make sure the Kingdom isn't a total mess without us." Sonic, almost laughing to himself, ran off into the distance.

Little did the Hero know, not only was he about to find out all about his friends at home, but he was going to have to do so with the help of his more... Exotic friends.


	2. Hot on his Tails?

A/N: Hello again guys! Updating with a new chapter, slowly trying to advance the plot without giving too much away yet. It will be worth it, I promise ;D.  
Somewhat new format kind of, trying to space out the walls of text a little more. Hopefully I did an okay job! Enjoy the new chapter!

Chapter 2: Hot on his... Tails?

The downpour was much worse then when he initially left. "I did not account for the weather being this bad, whatever is causing this must be picking up momentum." Tails said, confused by both the situation.

"I must find the answer to this." Tails flew his plane into the heart of the floating jewel of the Mystic Ruins, Angel Island. In the current storm, the small levitating land mass looked like a small mud ball in a draining tub. All the craziness left Tails frazzled. The weather pattern made little sense, they were in the middle of Summer so no climate change could have made this storm.

"The strange readings are coming from over there." Tails said looking due west. Scanning the ground below him he saw the Master Emerald still sitting in it's spot, with a soaking wet Echidna not a foot away.

"Knuckles! He is so stubborn, it is a typhoon out here and he won't even get into his hut." Tails knew he would not be much safer in there, but at least he could be out of the torrential downpour. But then something strange suddenly happened, catching the young fox's eye. "The Master Emerald, it's glowing! Knuckles must be using it to figure out what is going on with this weather, I should go talk to him and see what he might know."

Without wasting a moment longer, he landed his plane in the grassy, or now swamp like, ground. "I better be careful, I did not plan on testing the V3's ground mobility today but, I suppose I will get a look anyway." Entering in the code, and a flip of the switch, the jet plane transformed into a tank-like amphibious vehicle.

The treads on the bottom were suited just for the weather here. The forest around him seemed so ominous, not a creature was sturring. Tails was fast approaching his destination. "The V3's performance is phenominal! I think I outdid myself once again." Being careful not to pat himself on the back too hard, he then averted his focus to Knuckles and the Emerald which appeared to have not even shifted the slightest since he first saw them.

Stepping out of the plane, Tails was immediately greeted by seemingly gale force winds. Struggling to make his way up to the alter, Tails finally set foot at the stair case.

"Knuckles! Hey!" Despite shouting as loud as he could, he was muffled to the point of being completely inaudible. Now determined to get his answers, the small fox charged up the stair case with all his strength. "Knuckles! Turn around!" throwing a rock just past his head.

This caught the busy echidna's attention.

"What in the- Tails! What are you doing out here?!" He stared totally dumbfounded at the sight he was now seeing. "I came to ask you that question. What is going on with the Master Emerald?" Knuckles turned back to his prized jewel, and turning back just as quickly, gave Tails a very concerned look."We are about to find out."

With that, the Emerald suddenly went dark, and in an instant, flashed a light that could pierce any darkness no matter the pitch. Shielding their eyes, they turned away and held their hands over their face, Tails completely confused was to what was going on.

"What is wrong with the Emerald Knuckles?!" Tails was on the edge of panic now. The Emerald was a beacon to behold. Knuckles finally being able to see, responded to his question. "There is a dimensional rift and it is causing the storm. Whatever it is coming over from the other side is causing it."

Before Tails could begin to speak, he shoved to the ground by his red friend. Knuckles knew exactly what was about to happen, and they needed to get down. Now. Just then, a spacial tear opened up just over head. A very large orb passed through the tear, with every inch of it's mass drawing closer the storm raged harder in kind.

And just then, everything stopped.

The orb burst open and from it, a large body fell to the earth, followed by several objects. Almost immediately the storm began to subside. The ocean, almost ready to swallow the the whole island, receded. The crashing waves almost ceasing entirely.

Knuckles and Tails stood up, rubbing their eyes in an attempt to scan their surroundings. Reaching down to grab his flight goggles off the ground, Tails saw a strange object laying at his feet. Picking it up, it took him almost no time to recognize what he was holding. "This badge, this is from the Archipelago naval crest!" Without wasting a single moment, Tails began looking around for almost anything that could provide him any information.

It did not take him long to find one better.

"Blaze!" Tails cried. Knuckles just beginning to collect his thoughts, looked to see Tails holding the unconscious cat. "Tails! Is she okay?" Knuckles called to him. Tails took a quick check of her pulse. "She is okay, just pretty beat up. She is going to need some medical attention though." Knuckles gave a nod and looked across the field to his Emerald. "You go on ahead, I will catch up later. This entire situation seems strange to me and I am going to get to the bottom of this."

After helping Tails bring her to the Tornado, Knuckles signaled a clear take off. Tails then set off to go to his workshop, calling Vanilla and Cream ahead. Despite the still rainy weather, the signal was crystal clear. "Hello?". Tails was very thankful Cream picked up so quickly. "Cream, this is Tails. I have an emergency situation right now, Blaze ne-." "Blaze is here?" Cream cutting him off out of shock. "Yes, and she needs help. She is banged up and I don't want to take her to the hospital and risk her leaving before we can talk to her." Cream realizing what she was being asked, immediately called for her mother. "Momma! Momma! Tails needs help!"

After a quick explanation, the two quickly met up with Tails at this shop and started to give the injured cat medical attention. "She is mostly just bruised and scraped up, but nothing serious. Just make sure she has water when she wakes up, the poor thing is dehydrated."

Tails gave Vanilla a nod. "Thank you for being able to come over so quickly." Vanilla smiled back, "It is not problem Tails, any friend of my Cream is a friend of mine." Cream smiled up to her mother and could not resist the urge to ask. "Momma, can I please stay with Tails so I can help?"

"I don't see why not." Vanilla said, immediately being bear hugged by her daughter. Tails couldn't help but smile at the sight. "Just be home before dark." Cream nodded, and Vanilla left.

Meanwhile, in the Mystic Ruins...

"The rain finally subsided, took long enough." Sonic said, overjoyed that the downpour was over. Looking around, he saw the massive puddles and flooding caused from the storm. "Any longer and I might have needed gills." Smirking to himself, he sped away. Figuring Tails probably headed back the minute the weather became unmanageable, Sonic decided to call it quits on his search.

But before he could leave, some rustling in the bushes caught his attention.

"Hmm?" Sonic said to himself, his eyes fixated on the area he heard the sound. Curious, he decided to take a look. As he approached the bush that the sound was heard from, he stopped to listen. "I could have sworn I hear som-." "KKKKKAAAAAAAAARRRRRAAAAAAAAA AHHHHH!" Suddenly something leaped from the bushes and latched on to Sonic's head. "HEY! OUCH! WHAT IS GOING ON?!" Sonic said flailing about. "TRYING TO SNEAK UP ON ME MATE? I'LL SHOW YA BLOODY SNEAK ATTACK!"

Sonic pulled the overly aggressive raccoon off of his face. "AHH!... Marine?! What are you doing here?! And why are you attacking my face?!" Marine stopped kicking and flailing the minute she heard who's voice it was. "So-... Sonic? Well I'll be! Sorry mate! I thought you were some kind of Pirate coming to take me shi-." It suddenly hit her.

"My ship! Where is my ship? What happened!" And then she realized what had happened. "Oh. Oh no." Marine turned pale as a ghost. Sonic, now totally confused had to ask. "Just what is going on here Marine? How did you get here? What pirates?"

Marine looked him in the eyes, fear clearly shown on her face. "I think it would be best if we got out of here, I will explain on the way."


End file.
